Author:Aristophanes,David Barrett,Alan H. Sommerstein,David Barrett,Alan H. Sommerstein
The plays in this volume all contain Aristophanes' trademark bawdy comedy and dazzling verbal agility. In THE BIRDS, two frustrated Athenians join the birds to build the utopian city of 'Much Cuckoo in the Clouds'. THE KNIGHTS is a venomous satire on Cleon, a prominent Athenian demagogue, while THE ASSEMBLY WOMEN deals with the battle of the sexes as the women of Athens infiltrate the all-male Assembly in disguise. The lengthy conflict with Sparta is the subject of PEACE, inspired by the hope of a settlement in 421 BC, and WEALTH reflects on the economic catastrophe that hit Athens after the war.
Touching...a deft, sweet, and often comic novel.
—— Chicago TribuneEntertaining...flawless dialogue...reading it is like eavesdropping on an intimate female chat
—— New York Daily NewsA tense, precarious achievement, brilliantly evoking a dangerous journey
—— The TimesIt is the sharpness of the topography that brings this book to life, the handling of the characters is equally impressive... Thubron has captured, with a vividness that few could match...the charms of a journey into the unknown
—— Sunday TelegraphAn intriguing and worthwhile success
—— Times Literary SupplementColin Thubron seems to be a writer undaunted by immensity, either of place or plot... To the Last City is haunting and passionate and, above all, magnificently fearless
—— Observer